Mihai Antonescu

Mihai Antonescu (18 November 1904-1 June 1946) was Minister of Foreign Affairs of Romania from 29 June 1941 to 23 August 1944, succeeding Ion Antonescu and preceding Grigore Niculescu-Buzesti. He was not related to Ion Antonescu.

Biography
Mihai Antonescu was born on 18 November 1904 in Nucet, Dambovita County, Romania. He was a member of the National Liberal Party - Bratianu and not aligned with extremist groups such as the Iron Guard, but he later drifted far-right while serving as a minister under Ion Antonescu and enforced anti-Semitism in the censored state media. In January 1941, he was appointed Minister of Foreign Affairs after the Iron Guard was crushed, and he was responsible for having Romanian Jews dispossessed and persecuted. After the 1943 Battle of Stalingrad during World War II, Antonescu believed the war was lost and advocated the surrender of the minor Axis Powers allies such as Finland, Italy, Hungary, and Romania. He repatriated survivors of the Transnistria concentration camps, halted the persecution of Jews, and allowed Jewish emigration to non-Axis nations, and on 23 August 1944 he was arrested on the orders of King Michael I of Romania after his coup. Along with Ion Antonescu, Mihai Antonescu was executed by firing squad in 1946.